20160703 Philippines 6 hurt in fires amid downpour
Philippines Jul 02 2016 “Houses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
6 hurt in fires amid downpour
Updated: 2016-07-03-00:00
Firefighters put out the fire that hit the signage of Gaisano mall in Minglanilla, Cebu.
Amid the heavy downpour that caused massive flooding in Metro Cebu for the past two days, at least four fire incidents occurred in Cebu City and Minglanilla, damaging over P100,000 worth of property and injuring at least six people.
The first fire alarm was reported at 4:44 p.m. Friday in Barangay Quiot, Cebu City. At least eight houses were completed destroyed while two others were partially damaged.
Fire Officer 1 Grace Colin said the fire was declared under control 10 minutes later. It allegedly started in the house owned by certain Ruby Puman-ag.
The fire was initially traced to an electrical short circuit. Most of the houses razed by fire were made of light materials. The fire department pegged the damage at P100,000. A certain Eugene Ponce was injured.
Few hours later, another fire hit Gaisano Mall in Minglanilla town. The fire department recorded the incident at 9:34 p.m. and was declared fire out after five minutes. The damage was pegged at P10,000.
Fire investigator Sulbert Navarro said an electrical short circuit which caught the tarpaulins displayed on the fa巽ade of the building started the fire.
“Matud pa sa mga witnesses, naka-observe sila og spark sa mga wires unya ngadto paingon sa tarpaulin,” Navarro said.
The fire did not affect the interior part of the building. “Ang sunog naa ra gyud tanan sa gawas,” Navarro said.
He advised the mall management to check their signage regularly.
“Kanang signages nila, i-check regularly kay maulanan, mainitan, unya ma-loose pud ang tarp. Dapat naay maintanance unya i-check pud ang mga suga sa tarp,” Navarro added.
Meanwhile, a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank exploded and started a fire past midnight yesterday in Barangay Zapatera.
Senior Fire Officer 2 Dionisio Ragasa Jr. said they received the emergency call at 12:15 a.m. The fire, however, was already extinguished before the responding firemen arrived.
Ragasa said an explosion happened in the house of Ramon and Grace Rodriguez. A leaking gas tank caught fire and exploded after Grace lighted a candle during a power interruption in the area.
The explosion has injured Ramon and Grace. Their son, Dr. Ben Jose Rodriguez, was also injured together with Claude Bernard Pe単a and Bernadeth Pe単a.
Except for Grace and Claude Bernard, the other victims suffered second-degree burns and were confined at the hospital for treatment. The other victims only suffered first-degree burns.
“Gikan ni sila nang-limpyo kay nagbaha man, dayun nag-dine out, pagbalik nagdagkot si Grace og kandila kay brown out, nisud sa balay,” Ragasa said.
The damage was only pegged at P5,000.
At 10:02 a.m. yesterday, another fire broke out at the storage house at the Bethany Compound in Barangay Guadalupe. Electrical short circuit was also blamed for the incident.
The fire was immediately declared under control and has a damage of only P5,000.
Web Source : Philstar
http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2016/07/03/1599089/6-hurt-fires-amid-downpour